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Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks slap hands after the Warriors defeated the Bucks 104-93 at Chase Center on March 18.

The Golden State Warriors have prolonged their championship window. But their hopes of landing another superstar player seem to be waning.

Though Golden State has been linked to both former two-time NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, the latter seems unlikely to be moved, at least in the short term, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP and the 2021 NBA Finals MVP, made headlines earlier this off-season when he said he’d consider a deal out of Milwaukee.

With two more seasons on his current contract, and the Bucks coming off their third straight first-round exit, the thought was the Bucks could accrue valuable young players or draft picks, plus salary-cap space, and quickly reload.

The Warriors were one of the teams linked to Antetokounmpo in a trade, since they have four first-round draft picks available to trade. Salary-cap space could be an issue, but right now the more pressing issue is Antetokounmpo’s availability.

Is Giannis Antetokounmpo Available Via Trade?

Antetokounmpo may ultimately be traded this off-season, since the NBA season hasn’t even officially ended yet. There are more stories than can be counted of players either asking for trades or denied trade rumors that ultimately were proven false, so anything can still happen.

But Windhorst, who is as tuned in as anyone, said all is extremely quiet on the Antetokounmpo trade market.

“Right now there is no Giannis Antetokounmpo trade market,” Windhorst said on “SportsCenter” this morning. “There are not going to be any discussions at all about this in the next couple of weeks. He has not asked for it, and the Bucks aren’t looking to trade him.”

How Can The Warriors Trade For Giannis Antetokounmpo?

Even if Antetokounmpo is available via trade, the Warriors are going to have a tough time making the money work, as long as they are trying to stay under the second apron of the NBA salary cap.

Though 85 percent of the Warriors’ salary-cap charge is going to Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green next season — which adds up to about $150 million — they would have to offload serious money to bring in Giannis.

Golden State could consider trading Green, who according to Spotrac has two more seasons on his four-year, $100 million contract, but he is more valuable to the Warriors than any other team.

Absent a third team, who would target a player like Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield or multiple young players like Brandon Podziemski and/or Trayce Jackson-Davis, the Warriors seem unlikely to match salaries or even put together the most compelling package for Antetokounmpo.

That doesn’t mean the Warriors couldn’t figure it out, especially if they are willing to blow through the second apron — set at $207 million for 2025-26.

Golden State’s championship window was revived when it acquired Butler from the Miami Heat midseason, which pushed the Dubs to a 24-8 finish in their last 32 games. Mike Dunleavy could decide to throw caution to the wind for two more years of Curry, Butler, Green and Antetokounmpo before the Warriors need to rebuild.

The Bucks would just have to be willing to trade Antetokounmpo to make that happen.

Pat Pickens is an experienced sports writer and media personality who has written for outlets like NHL.com, the Associated Press, the New York Times and USA Today. He covers the NFL, NBA, NHL and NBA as a breaking news contributor at Heavy. More about Pat Pickens